People's Historians Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Everyday Solidarity Interracial Organizing Stories from The Sum of Us Feb 07, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host Rethinking Schools executive director Cierra Kaler-Jones and Rethinking Schools co-editor Jesse Hagopian speak to Heather McGhee about The Sum of Us: How Racism Hurts Everyone, the young readers’ edition of her bestselling book. Read about the event and find related resources.

Khalil Gibran Muhammad on The Condemnation of Blackness Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our hosts educators Jesse Hagopian and T. J. Whitaker spoke to historian Khalil Gibran Muhammad about his book The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, which examines the idea of Black criminality in the making of modern urban America. Read about the event and find related resources.

Michael Hines on the Fight for Black History in Schools Nov 14, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our hosts Rethinking Schools executive director Cierra Kaler-Jones and Rethinking Schools co-editor Jesse Hagopian speak to historian Michael Hines about his book, A Worthy Piece of Work: The Untold Story of Madeline Morgan and the Fight for Black History in Schools. Read about the event and find related resources.

Blair L. M. Kelley on Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Jesse Hagopian speaks to historian Blair L. M. Kelley about her book, Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class. Read about the event and find related resources

Teaching About the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Sep 12, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, educator Jessica Rucker speaks with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) veterans Courtland Cox, Jennifer Lawson, and Judy Richardson. They discussed the SNCC Legacy Project and lessons that can be learned from SNCC today. Read about the event and find related resources.

Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw on Teaching Truthfully About U.S. History Jun 12, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian and Rethinking Schools executive director Cierra Kaler-Jones speak to Kimberlé Crenshaw, a brilliant scholar and writer on civil rights, critical race theory, Black feminist legal theory, intersectionality, race and racism, and the law. The two discuss the importance of teaching truthfully about U.S. history and why teaching this history is being criminalized today. Read about the event and find related resources.

Howard French on Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War May 08, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian speaks with career foreign correspondent and global affairs writer Howard W. French about his 2021 book, Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War. Read about the event and find related resources.

Linda Villarosa on Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian speaks with Pulitzer Prize finalist Linda Villarosa about her 2022 book, Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation, where she exposes the persistent racism in the U.S health-care system. Read about the event and find related resources.

Kidada Williams on I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Prentiss Charney Fellow Jessica Rucker speaks with historian Kidada E. Williams about her 2023 book, I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction. The book offers a breakthrough account of the much-debated Reconstruction period, transporting readers into the daily existence of formerly enslaved people and the white supremacist terror they faced after emancipation. Drawing on a deep reading of the archives, Williams offers a revelatory and, in some cases, minute-by-minute record of nighttime raids and Ku Klux Klan strikes. And she deploys cutting-edge scholarship on trauma to consider how the effects of these attacks would linger for decades — indeed, generations — to come. Read about the event and find related resources.

Jeanne Theoharis on Starring Mrs. Rosa Parks: Film Excerpts and Behind the Scenes Commentary Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian speaks with historian Jeanne Theoharis about Rosa Parks’ activism prior to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, her trip to the Highlander Folk School, and the decades she dedicated to challenging racism in the North. This session includes clips from the new documentary The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, based on the book of the same name by Theoharis. Read about the event and find related resources.